Device for automatically maintaining side registry in traveling webs



Jan. 29, 1957 w. F. HUCK 2,779,591 DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY MAINTAININGSIDE REGISTRY IN TRAVELING WEBS Filed Nov. 15, 1954 United StatesPateiittinerant AUToMATICALLY MAiNTAINING j SIDE REGISTRY IN TRAVELING WiresWilliam F. Huck, Forest Hills,- N. Y assignor to 'HuckCoinpany, NewYork, N. Y., a partnership ztaincsiibmsvmbei 15, 1954;55 :621 No468902*3 Elaine. or 271 216) y i o n relates tofnieansfforassuringaccurateregistrationota running we bof material, and more partic'tilar'lyto anmproveddevicefor automatically registering and maintaining side registryOra running Web. I An object of the invention is to provide a simplifiedfluid-c trolled ineansforinaintaining accurate side registry oftra'veliiig"web'siof rnaterial.

Another object is to provide a fluid-controlledfwebregistering tle'vicelof comparativelysimple design and v inexpensive construction,"automatic and self-regulating 1n iLts functions, and particularlyadapted for use in cornl 'printing establishments. their object theprovisi s'ive means toassure accurate side registry and alsodampialitiles to "prevent excessive corrections and any to yibratioriofthe parts being adjusted er'ob ject istheprovision of a device for-(theregistry of traveling webs, andwhicli'inay ily applied to existingprintinghnd/orwebguiding "apparatus. i A i p f'ln the dia irgsdepic'tinga preferred'foi'm which the invention assu'r'ne:

"seeti'en; showing the web-controllingrollers,"and with the iing'web innormal or neutral'po sition; Figure 2 is a fragmentaIyJside 'or'endelevationa l yiew,

taken "on line 2 2 of Figure l," and a s viewed in thedirec- Figure 3 isa'fiaginentary planwie wshowing the Web- 1"Cbntidllinrdllers"autbrnatidallymoved by'the mechanism and effective toretrirnth'Wehto the normal or neutral positionillustratedfinFigure l. i

jInthe printing"industry,where running Webs cf' paper or'other materialare printedupon whiletraveling through their respective machines, animportant consideration is themainten'ance of'cor'rectalignment of theprinted characters on the webiprior to'its subsequent'severing into itpages and the like; ,In multi-color printing, correct alignment of theprinted charactersfobjec'ts; etc., is imperative. Numerous devicesf-havebeen placed on the market, all with a view to the automatic maintenanceor accurate {side registry of a; traveling web and consequently of 'theprinted characters thereon. However, many of these prior devices[involve comparatively 3 expensive, complieated and frequently bulkyequipment. It will be understood that where numerous Webs are, to'beoperated upon in a confined space th e use of bulky registeringrnechanismgis; generally speaking, not only inconvenient 4 1t o e a rsrbm r t c y vi t e. of h i i t fe rence with th e functioning of themachines with which they are associated.

ine'ans with a "small pressure differential produced' by a 2,779,591erate evil?? p ice Thpres'entinvention particularly contemplatesapneania'tic or fluid control of the position ofa web withirespect toits lateral disposition and withai/iewto the correct alignment oftheprinted characters. The maintenanceof' accurate side registry oftravelingj'webs, according to: this inyention; is attained by theutilization of comparatively simpleand directly applied means.

Among the advantages accruing to the present: device is the reductionotjriction toa"minimurn and the attainriienro'f a highly' effectiveamplification'of the registering slight misalignment or lateral*displacement 'of 'tlie'f running websposition. The-net result isasimplifiedcon struction andan-accurate automatic 'maintenance ofside 12and lfs. pin oi: 'stud IZZfarranged in the bracket 12, and in" a similarfashion, ajlever or l5 is fulcrumed on a Hst'ud 13a arrangedinthejbraeket 13. iA-pair of spaced beai'ing bl-o'clts Ito, iiT arepiVotally supported in paralregistry of th e t ravelingweb. Theinvention particularly lendsitself foruse imthe-field' 'ofnewspaper'andkindred jp'rinting whereyin view of the multiplicity ofoperating components, "the room available for extra or auxiliary devicesis limited and must be reserved for the inspection ofthe product; theeonvenience 'of the operators and the best functioning of the machine.

, Referring now in particular to the dlrawings'wherein invention, i1 andila aresupporting frames arranged in spaced paralielism' andto which arefastened brackets A belbcraiiklever 14 isfulcrumed on a Betweentheframes 11 and 31a, an upperroller 18 has roller iii has'i'ts'oppositeends iturnably accommodated in theflo er "portion otthe said-bearingblocks 16, 17. A"iveblof "niatei'iali' w,as bestshown in Figure 2,

- i is engagc'dz or led under I the lower roller 19 and? thence over theupper roller 1?). Further inspectionoffFigure l will'discloseithatbracket12 has a dep'endingextension 121) that isfastenedyas by:thescrews'20, toone of fthe cover'plates,"in this instancexthe upper coverplate 26,

'of an-assembly'designated: generally atzland effective to shift therollers 13, 1'3 to'eorrect misaligrnnents of; the

WE'O W. i p

I The-assembly 21 comprises 'a cylindrical body portion "122havingacomparativelyi large. central bore,'as at 23,

"'z'indarbintegrally formed thickened wall portion, as at24,

which is apertured to provide a comparatively narrow elongatedpassageway therethrough, as at 25. Cover plate 26,;1nentioned above, andthe lower cover plate 27 sealingly close Ethe bore passageway 25 Theupper cover q plate 2%. has a short duct 26a'op'ening into a counterbore26b for a purpose that will appear hereinafter.

The lower cover plate 27'has an exteriorly-projecting 'annularffiange 28providing a recessor cavity. The cavity;2 9 is normally closed byadorne-shaped lid or the-recess 29 and clamped between the annularflange, 28

and th e dome-sl'iaped lid 30 is aiflexible diaphragm 31 havinganelongatedvalve stem fastened toits centre, as

- by the nut 33 and washers34. The valve stem-,32,, as

best shown inFigured, is slidably mounted in the passageway 25 and hasits-lower threaded, portion accommodated in a pocket 35 formedintegrally with the lid 30, the pocket fifigbeing normally covered by acap 3fiithreadedly-secured t to the lid 30; and having .anair-'admittanceopening 337.

i The pocket 3 5 accommodates acompressionflspringin 25 and the upperpart of the hollow body portion 22.

confined between the bottom of the pocket and a washer 39 slidablyretained on the valve stem 32 by a nut 40 threadedly engaged on thelower portion of the said valve stem. The valve stem 32, in the mannerindicated, is urged downwardly, as viewed in Figure 1, by the biasingaction of the spring 38.

. It will be understood that the force or downward urge of the spring 38may be regulated or graduated by means of the nut 40. The nut 40 may beturned on the threaded valve stem to increase or decrease the degree ofcompression of the said spring with a view to maintaining the diaphragm31 in the normal fiat or undistorted condition shown in Figure 1, exceptas hereinafter described when undesired deviations of web alignmentoccur, which are corrected by this device.

A passageway or duct 41 extending through the lower cover plate 37 fromthe cavity 29, registers with a duct 42 having a bafile 42a and locatedin an outer section 43- of the thickened wall portion 24 of the assembly21. The duct 42 communicates with another duct 44 arranged transverselybetween adjacent surfaces of the said outer section 43 and the thickenedwall portion 24. The passageway or duct 44 communicates, as by the pipe45, with an evacuating or pressure source (not shown) of conventionaldesign.

A short passageway 46 arranged transversely to the passageway 41 isconnected to a pipe 47, passing through a filter 48 and communicating atits upper end with a tube 49 supported in the frames 11 and 11a.

The passageway 25 is in alignment with the short duct 26a andcounterbore 26b, and is closed at the top and bottom by valve bodies orheads 32a, 32b on the valve stem 32. Adjacent the upper end of thepassageway and communicating therewith and with the counterbore 26b whenthe valve stem 32 is moved to raise its valve heads 32a, 32b from theirseats, is a somewhat irregular-shaped duct or recess 50 normal to andjoining the passageway In a somewhat similar fashion, a lower ductfollowing a zigzag path 51, communicates with the passageway 25 and withthe lower portion or chamber of the bore of the hollow body portion 22.It is to be understood that passageway 25, below the lower valve head32!), is normally at atmospheric pressure by means of a small orifice51a arranged in the thickened wall portion 24 and communieating with theouter air.

The assembly 21 has a centrally-positioned, inwardly directed partition52 which may be considered as dividing the hollow body portion into twochambers; i. e., an upper chamber 52a and a lower chamber 52b. Thepartition is centrally apertured to accommodate the adjacent,oppositely-directed, aligned shaft portions or ends of a dual piston 53having an upper and a lower portion fastened to a reduced section of apiston rod 54, as by the nut 55. Packing rings, as at 56, on the dualpiston 53, serve to maintain a fluid-tight seal with the upper and lowerchambers of the hollow body portion 22.

The upper and lower chambers of the hollow body portion are filled witha viscous fluid, such as oil 57, and

communicate, one with the other, via the annular space encircling theadjacent ends of the upper and lower portions of the dual piston 53.

The upper portion of the piston rod 54 is slidably accommodated in thecentrally-apertured upper cover 26, "and is pivotally connected, as at58, with a link 59 that,

the adjacent upright 11a. A hand-wheel 63 fast on the stern of theadjusting screw 62 provides convenient manipulation of the latter, whendesired, for the lateral adjustment of the tube 49.

A shoe 64 fast on the outer surface of the tube 49, has a small orifice65 on its surface that communicates with the interior of the tube 49.This orifice is normally located so that a line drawn transverselythrough the centre of the orifice will be in alignment with the lefthand edge of the web W.

it is to be obseryed that the pins or studs 12a and 1311 are locatedsomewhat closer to a line extending longitudinally and centrally betweenthe two uprights or frames 11 and 11a, than pins 16a, 17a. By virtue ofthis construction, the pins 16a and 17a and consequently the adjacentattached portions of the levers 14, 15 are movable, as indicated by thedot-dash lines. The net result of the movement mentioned may beunderstood, by way of example, by reference to Figure 3 wherein the twoparallel rollers 18, 19 are shown tilted angularly to an equal extentwith the result that the web W will follow the path illustrated inFigure 3.

In further accordance with the invention, the lever 15 may have anextension or fork, as at 15a, that is adapted to engage an arm or finger66a of an adjacent doubleacting limit switch, of conventional design,indicated generally at 66 and fastened to the frame 11a. It will beunderstood that means (not shown) connected to the limit switch 66 maypermit the corrective action of the abovedescribed mechanism to betransmitted to a preceding web side registry mechanism for an initial orcoarse adjustment of the side registry of the traveling web.

The function and mode of operation of the device has been in partindicated, but may be summarized as follows:

Assuming the parts are in the predetermined normal or neutral runningposition illustrated in Figure 1 wherein the left-hand edge of the web Wcovers one-half of the orifice 65 of the shoe 64 on the air-conductingpipe 49, and further assuming that a vacuum-creating source (not shown)has been connected to pipe 45, air drawn through the half-closed orifice65 will flow through tube 49 into pipe 47, duct 42, duct 44 and thencethrouglrpipe 45 to the aforesaid evacuating source. The orifice 65 is sodesigned that air flowing into it, when partly obstructed, as by thebaffle 42a, will create a moderate vacuum in the cavity 29 tending tourge the stem 32 upwardly. This tendency is counterbalanced by thedownward urge of spring 38 so that the diaphragm 31 is maintainedsubstantially fiat, and the valve heads 32a, 32b exactly covering theentrance to the opening 26b and the bottom of the tubular passage 25which communicates with the zig-zag duct 51 and consequently with thelower chamber 52b.

If the web W should be displaced to the right, as shown in Figure 3, theleft-hand edge of the web W would completely uncover the'orifice 65 and,air would freely enter the latter with a consequent increase of airpressure in the cavity 29 thereby permitting the spring 38 to urge thevalve stem 32 downwardly. Under the conditions last-described, the air,freely entering the passageway' 25, via duct 42 and duct 44, will passinto the lower chamber 52b of the assembly casing via the zig-zag duct51. Simultaneously, air at atmospheric pressure will enter the port orduct 26a in the upper cover plate and thence, through port 26b and duct50, into the upper chamber 52a. t The dual piston 53 will be urgeddownwardly by the air pressure last-indicated, but the movement of thesaid dual piston will be damped or resisted by the viscous fluiddesignated generally at 57 on either side of the partition 52,- thuspreventing unduly quick motions of the said piston and assuring itssmooth operation.

The downward movement of the piston 53 alluded to will angularly move orrock the bell crank lever 14 on its fulcrum pivot 12a and consequentlytilt or move rollers 18, 19 and the web W engaged by them, from right toleft, as viewed in Figure 3, to an extent sufficient to halfcover theorifice 65. This will return the parts to their normal running positionand the web W is then in correct running position.

If the web W should be positioned too far to the left thereby completelycovering the orifice 65 and thus preventing entrance of air, the vacuumin cavity 29 will be accentuated and the diaphragm 51 then urgedupwardly so that the attached valve stem 32 will correspondingly moveupwardly to displace its upper and lower valve heads 32a, 32b from theirnormal positions, as illustrated in Figure 1. i it By this movement ofthe valve stem 32, the upper valve head 32a will initially uncover andplace duct 50 into communication with the passageway 25 which meanwhilehas been maintained in a state of partial vacuum via the exhausting pipe45. Simultaneously, the lower valve head 32b will uncover the zig-zagduct 51 into communication with the lower portion of the passageway 25,which portion is at atmospheric pressure, as above-indicated, by virtueof the orifice 51:: leading to the outer air.

The combined effect of the partial vacuum communicated to the upperchamber 52a plus the introduction of air at substantially atmosphericpressure into the lower chamber 521) via the now open zig-zag duct 51,lower portion of the passageway 25 and orifice 51a, will urge the dualpiston 53 upwardly. This upward movement of the piston 53 will rock thebell crank lever 14 in a clockwise direction and consequently move therollers 18, 19 and thereby the web W from left to right. This willpartly uncover the orifice 64 in the shoe 64 to the neutral midpositionand therefore restore the state of equilibrium of the diaphragm 31 thatpreviously existed, and as described above. The web W will now berestored to the normal or neutral position illustrated in Figure l.

While the device has been described and illustrated in its preferredform as operating through the intermediary of a vacuum-creatingsource,it is also equally operable by fluid pressure in excess of atmosphericpressure. For this last-mentioned mode of operation, no change in thedesign or construction of the device is required, but the spring 38 iswithdrawn from the pocket 35 in the lid 30, placed within the cap 36under the washer 39 and seated on the floor of the said cap.

This is effected by merely removing the threaded cap 36 from the lid 30,and the washer 39 and nut 40 from the end of the valve stem; thenthreading the nut 40 back on the valve stem sufficiently to permit thevalve stem to accommodate the spring 35, then sliding the washer 39 upon the valve stem and into contact with the pressureadjusting nut 49,then inserting the spring 38 within the cap 36, and then threadedlyengaging the latter with the lid 30. The spring 38, now seated on thefloor of the cap and compressingly confined between it and the washer39, will communicate an upward thrust or urge to the under side of thewasher 39 and consequently to the valve stem 32 with its attached valveheads 32a, 32b.

As previously described with reference to the operation of the device byvacuum-creating means, the urge of the spring 38, in this instance anupward urge, may be varied by turning the nut 40 on the threaded valvestem in order to maintain the diaphragm 31 in the normal flat conditionshown in Figure 1 or until deviations of web alignment occur and whichrequire corrections that are performed by the instant device.

The operation of the device from a fluid pressure source instead of thepreviously-described vacuum creating source, is as follows:

With the parts, including the web W in the normal position illustratedin Figure 1, air under pressure will flow through the pipe 45 from thepressure source (not shown) into the passageway 25, past the bafile 42aand through duct 42, into the recess 29 with a pressure drop as itenters the latter which communicates with the outer air via the pipe 47,tube 49 and orifice 65. The orifice 6 65, as shown, is normallyhalf-covered by the edge of the web W. I

If the orifice 65 should become more exposed by movement .of the web Wto the right, an increased flow of air will take place and the pressurein the recess will decrease. The spring 38, in this instance, by virtueof its normal upward thrust against the under side of the washer 39abutting the nut 40 threaded on the valve stem 32, will overbalance thedownward pressure in the recess 29 imposed by the compressed air on theflexible diaphragm 31, and will move upwardly the valve stem 32 with itsattached valve heads 32a, 32b. The compressed air pressure will enterthe upper chamber 52a via the now exposed duct 50 from the passageway25. Simultaneously, air at atmospheric pressure will enter the lowerchamber 52b of the casing assembly 21, through orificeSla zig-zag duct51. The dual piston 53 will now move downwardly, thereby rocking thebell-crank lever 14 in counterclockwise direction and consequentlymoving rollers 18, 19 and web W to the left sufiiciently to cover theorifice 65 to establish the corrective action described above withreference to the operation of the device by means of vacuum-creatinginstrumentalities.

If the web W should shift from the position illustrated, to the leftthereby covering the orifice 65, the air pressure will obviouslyincrease in the duct 42 and re cess 29, thereby forcing the diaphragm 31downwardly to admit the compressed air into the lower chamber 52b viathe zigzag duct 51. At the same time, the upper duct 50 will communicatethe upper chamber 52 with the outer air through the short duct 26a andcounterbore 26b. The increased air pressure in the lower chamber 5215will now force the dual piston 53 upwardly, thus rocking the bell-cranklever 14 in a clockwise direction to move the attached rollers 18, 19and the web W to the right, thereby uncovering the orifice 65 until aposition of equilibrium with respect to the operating components isreached, as heretofore explained in detail.

It is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributesthereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive,reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoingdescription to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for maintaining side registry of a running web, a frame,a pair of web-guiding rollers arranged in opposed parallelism andengaging opposite sides of a running web, a pair of bearing boxespivotally connected to opposite ends of said web-guiding rollers, a pairof levers hingedly connected to said pair of bearing boxes, a pair ofbrackets fastened to the frame and rockably supporting said pair oflevers, an assembly fastened to one of said brackets and having a pistonslidable therein, a connecting rod secured to said piston and hingedlyconnected to one of the levers, said assembly including a cylinder andvalvemeans, said valve means controlling the flow of liquid into and outof said cylinder, a tubular member slidably mounted on the frame andhaving a fluid-admittance orifice, said orifice being slidably engagedby the running web, manuallyoperable means connected to the tubularmember and to the frame, said manually-operable means being constructedand adapted to vary the position of the tubular member with respect tothe frame and consequently to vary the position of the orificerelatively to the running web; and other means connecting the valvemeans to the tubular member and to a source of fluid pressure.

2. In a device for maintaining side registry of a running web, a frame,a pair of web-guiding rollers arranged in opposed parallelism andengaging opposite sides of: a: running web, apairof bearingboxespivotally connected to opposite ends of said web-guiding rollers,

a'pai'r of levers hingedly connected to said pair of bearing boxes, apair of brackets fastened to the'fra'me and rockably supporting saidpair of levers, an assembly fastened to one of said brackets and havinga piston slidable therein, a connectingrod secured to said piston andhingedly connected to one of the levers, said assembly including acylinder and valve means, said valve means being constructed and adaptedto control the flow of fluid into and out of. said cylinder, a tubularmember slidably mounted on the frame and having afluid-admittance'orifice, said orifice being slidably'engaged by therunning web, a threaded member engaged in said frame, a bracket fastenedto .thethreaded member and to the tubular member, said threaded memberbeing constructed and adapted to shift the last-mentioned bracket andthe tubular'member in a plane'normal to the'frame, and other meansconnecting'the valve means to the tubular' member and to a sourceoffluid pressure.

3. In a device for maintaining side registry of a running web, asupport, a pair of web-guiding rollers arranged in spaced parallelismand adjustably mounted on said support, said rollers being engaged withand eflective'to guide arunning'web, a'tubular member mounted on thesupport and having a fluid-admittance orifice, manually-adjustable meansconnected to the tubular member'and to the support,'saidmanually-adjustable means being effective to move the tubular memberrelatively tothe} support and said orifice being slidable by an edgeportion of the running web, an assembly connected to the support, apartition arranged within the assembly and having tanopening, a pistonslidably mounted within the assembly and having a connecting rod passingthrough the opening, a pair of levers rockably connected to the support,a pair of bearing boxes hingedly connected to said pair of levers androtatably supporting said rollers, a. hinged connection between theconnecting rod and one of said pair of levers, a viscous fluid withinsaid assembly and on either side of said partition, said viscous fluidbeing contactable with interior, opposed portions of the piston andadjacent opposed surfaces of the partition, valve means within theassembly and operable by fluid pressure, and tubular means connectingthe valve means to the tubular member and to a source of fluid pressure.

References Cited in the file of this patent I v UNITED STATES PATENTS632,744

